Five out of the twenty EU regions with lowest living standard are in Bulgaria, latest data of Eurostat show. Only the Southwest region and Bulgaria’s capital Sofia are not part of the negative statistics. The gross domestic product per capita in these two Bulgarian regions reached 79% of the EU average. The Southeast region which includes districts centers such as Burgas, Yambol, Sliven and Stara Zagora is also showing positive signs of development. Unfortunately, three regions in North Bulgaria have been lagging behind for many years. The Northwest Region which has been the poorest regions in the EU for years and whose population fell under 800,000, is expected to merge with the Central North Region.

Infrastructure is crucial for each country’s economic development

All underdeveloped regions cover depopulated peripheral territories along Bulgaria’s borders with neighboring countries which has been cut off from the internal industrial centers. That is why the Bulgarian authorities should speed development of communications and open as much new border checkpoints as possible. The construction of strategic motorways in South Bulgaria has been already completed. Construction of new sections of Hemus motorway in North Bulgaria has already begun. However, Bulgaria urgently needs vertical high speed roads connecting Vidin and Botevgrad (along the Pan-European Corridor 10), Ruse and Plovdiv, Ruse and Varna, Silistra and Dobich and Varna-Burgas. Moreover, new tunnels below Shipka Pass and Petrohan Pass must be built. The Bulgarian municipalities situated along the Danube River need high-speed road along the Pan-European Corridor 7 connecting the cities of Vidin (Northwest Bulgaria) and Silistra (Northeast Bulgaria), as well as 3 new bridges over the Danube near Oryahovo-Bechet, Nikopol-Turnu Măgurele and Silistra-Călărași. The construction of the high-speed railway line (connecting Europe and the Bosporus) through the Balkans is also a challenge.

Development depends on manpower

Demography and emigration are among the biggest problems of some Bulgarian regions. These regions are looking for new investors, but the investors are complaining with the lack of manpower and suitable infrastructure. The Bulgarian villages experienced a similar problem during the communist period due to the rapid industrialization. The village residents were quickly trained under a flexible system containing education and employment. Now we are going back to the same approach called dual education, but the biggest problem is how this country will overcome the deficit of workforce. It can be done through an increase of wages, because the salaries in most Bulgarian regions are much lower than the EU average.

The responsibility of the local authorities and business

The local authorities must participate actively in the employment processes, in order to keep young people and make some of those who already migrated to bigger cities or abroad return home. The mayors and the local business must look for and attract new investors and create new job opportunities. Many projects need state assistance and regional cooperation, in order to be fulfilled successfully. Cross-border cooperation and cooperation with large Balkan cities such as Istanbul, Thessaloniki and Bucharest can also boost the development of the Bulgarian regions. Municipalities such as Vidin, Lom, Montana and Vratsa which are closer to Central and Western Europe as compared to other Bulgarian regions are the poorest and least developed regions in the EU, which is quite absurd. The second bridge over the Danube was built after years of senseless debates on where and whether it had to be built. It turned out that traffic along Danube Bridge 2 is much tenser than expected. However, the construction of a high-speed road to Vidin-Calafat bridge is falling behind schedules on both sides of the Danube and sceptics are again asking why we need a new road, since there are no people anymore in this Bulgarian region. However, new infrastructure and investments is a prerequisite for the revival of the underdeveloped Bulgarian regions.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov